Presimetrics: How Democratic and Republican Administrations Measure Up on the Issues We Care About »

Mike Kimel is an economic consultant who has built sophisticated statistical tools used by the military, NASA, and other government agencies. He also taught economics and advanced statistics at Pepperdine University, ran the internal consulting group for a Fortune 500 telecom company, and worked for a Big 4 accounting firm. He holds a Ph.D in economics from UCLA. He lives in Akron, Ohio, where he works at a diversified regional energy company. He is a contributing blogger on angrybear.com, one of the top economic blogs in the country.

Michael E. Kanell is an economics writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has appeared on television and radio, including CNBC, NPR, and various local stations across the country. He has a bachelor's degree in history from Princeton University and a law degree from Boston University, where he was also adjunct professor of the College of Communications. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Nigel Holmes is an award-winning information graphics specialist. His work has appeared in countless publications, including Time (where he worked as graphics director), Adweek, GQ, Details, Discover, Money, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, and more. He lives in Westport, Connecticut.

The authors cut through party bias to present the quantifiable facts about how modern presidents have performed on critical national issues

Politicians and the media spend a lot of time telling Americans how the presidents and their administrations are performing, but this analysis always skews along party lines. In Presimetrics, Kimel and Kanell take a fresh look at modern politics by gathering data from numerous government sources in order to compare and rank presidential performance on critical issues, from employment and health care to taxes and family values. The results frequently defy expectations:

• Reagan, godfather of neoconservatives, increased the federal workforce more than any president since LBJ

• Clinton, a hero to Democrats, cut funding for the NEA by a larger percentage than any other president

• Nixon/Ford outperformed all administrations on Democratic issues like Federal spending on social programs

The lively text clearly explains how various policies of each administration affect the data, and fascinating information graphics lend even greater depth to the discussion, showing at a glance how multiple administrations stack up.

Library Journal

While historians, political scientists, and the media regularly evaluate recent U.S. presidential performance based on biography or leadership style, this book sets out to "measure" it, asserting that quantitative analysis removes partisan or subjective bias. Kimel, an economic consultant, and Kanell (economics writer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution) gathered data from government sources to produce charts and graphs that illustrator Holmes tailored for the layperson. The book compares and ranks performance for Presidents from Eisenhower through George W. Bush on such key issues as economic growth, jobs, and health care. Although the text and graphics are very accessible to noneconomists, the results may surprise many (e.g., Reagan increased the federal workforce more than anyone since LBJ, and Clinton cut the National Endowment for the Arts by the greatest percentage), as we tend to determine a President's reputation based largely on public perception and partisan perspective. Readers may find themselves asking whether data can tell the whole story. VERDICT Recommended for anyone high school age or above who is interested in American history, politics, or the Presidents.—Leslie Lewis, Duquesne Univ. Lib., Pittsburgh

Introduction 8

Chapter 1 Real GDP per Capita 14

Chapter 2 Fiscal Responsibility 31

Chapter 3 Debt: What Real GDP per Capita Leaves Out 47

Chapter 4 Employment 56

Chapter 5 Income and Wealth 68

Chapter 6 Republican Issues 89

Interlude: On Taxes 116

Chapter 7 Democratic Issues 131

Chapter 8 Health Care 152

Chapter 9 Crime 165

Chapter 10 The Public Mood 183

Chapter 11 Family Values 197

Chapter 12 Investing in the Future 213

Conclusion 231

Appendix 1 Is It Congress? 239

Appendix 2 Explaining Growth in Real GDP per Capita 244

Appendix 3 The Budget of the Executive Office of the President 261

Appendix 4 Try This at Home 265

Appendix 5 Obama 269

Notes 276

Acknowledgments 293

Index 297